In the Yin and Shang Dynasties, whether it was a major national event such as a march or a battle, or ordinary people's weddings and funerals, sacrifices and divination were required to detect good and bad luck and predict God's will.

Among the cultural relics unearthed from the Yin Ruins in Anyang, Henan, there are a large number of exquisite bronzes, many of which are sacrificial tools. In the Yin and Shang era, whether it was a major national event such as a march or a battle, or the weddings and funerals of ordinary people, sacrifices and divination were required to detect good and bad luck and predict God's will.

In that era when humans did not understand nature and were unable to fight against it, people from rulers to common people believed that there was a god who dominated everything between heaven and earth.

However, when God’s will is contrary to reality, how should we choose?

In January 1046 BC, in the main hall of Fengcheng, the capital of Zhou Dynasty (today's Xi'an, Shaanxi Province), the confident Jiang Shang suddenly frowned. He had just performed an important task - routine divination.

According to the strategic plan, the tribes in the Dongyi region, which had been invaded by the King of Shang for many years, launched a large-scale rebellion under the instigation of Zhou Taishi Jiang Shang. The King of Shang sent a large army to attack Dongyi to quell the rebellion. The Shang capital was empty, and it was the Zhou army that sent troops. A great time to move eastward. Jiang Shang excitedly performed the divination before the war.

However, according to historical records, the divination this time showed great misfortune, indicating that it would be unfavorable to send troops. Such a result could not help but surprise Jiang Shang and others.

At such a critical juncture, should we continue to wait for fate, or should we send troops as planned?

When people were discussing the hexagrams and thought it was not appropriate to send troops, Jiang Shang expressed his unique opinions.

"Tai Gong said that withered bones and decayed grass, how can we know good or bad luck? How can we conquer the world and march according to it? Break the turtle bones, smash the bones, throw the bones into the ground and stamp on them a few times. We use righteousness to defeat unjustness, which is equivalent to saving the people from ruin. To save the people from hanging, we must do this."

Jiang Shang's speech has become a legend that has been circulated for more than 3,000 years. People today still praise the courage and wisdom of Jiang Taigong who did not believe in destiny and stepped on the divination turtle [shì] under his feet.

In that era of belief in divine destiny, Jiang Shang valued the suffering of the people more than God's will. Since then, the Chinese people have gradually awakened, and gradually began to transform from complete faith in heaven to faith in the power of man.

The king of Zhou, who believed that the people's support was stronger than destiny, gathered all the princes and allies who had watched the troops in Mengjin two years ago, and finally set off to attack the merchants.

King Wu attacked the Yin Dynasty and took boats to help the river. When the military chariots came out, the ships broke down in the river. The Taigong said: "The prince avenged his father, and now he is dead." Everything he passed was burned.

The merchant army crossed the Yellow River by boat. As soon as they landed, Jiang Shang ordered people to destroy all the boats. He said: "This time we send troops, the prince ( King Wu of Zhou ) is going to fight for his father ( Zhou Wen). Wang ) To seek revenge, we can only fight to the death with the enemy, and we must not take chances to survive!" All the ferries and bridges we crossed were also burned down.

For this war against merchants, everyone has made the determination to fight to the death.

After King Wu of Zhou's army crossed the Yellow River, they stopped briefly in a small town north of the Yellow River, which is now called Huojia County .

"The folklore is that after King Wu arrived here, he was not accustomed to the acclimatization and climate. Xiqi was thousands of miles away. After arriving here, he all got the same disease. What kind of disease did he get? It is what we now call pinkeye. After getting sick, There will be no way to fight and move forward."

In addition to diseases, the difficulties encountered by the army are not limited to these.

After the army of King Wu of Zhou crossed the Yellow River, it continued to march eastward. When the army arrived at Xingqiu (today's Wenxian County, Henan Province), they encountered a sudden violent wind and rain that did not stop for three days and three nights. The road was muddy, making it impossible for people and chariots to move forward, and even the battle flag was blown into three pieces by the wind.

This was a very unlucky sign at the time. People who believe in God's will regard it as an instruction from the gods, which means that it is not appropriate to go out to attack. However, at this critical moment, Jiang Shang once again strengthened everyone's confidence.

"At that time, King Wu asked Taigong, "What's going on? My Chinese army flag was broken into three pieces. Is it because God didn't allow me to defeat Zhou?" Taigong said no. It rained heavily for three days. The troops stationed here to practice martial arts have been broken into three parts. Let us divide the troops into upper, middle and lower armies."

Huojia County, where Tongmeng Mountain is located, was named Xiuwu in ancient times because King Wu of Zhou practiced troops and martial arts here. And got its name.

League Mountain is not a mountain, but a highland about seven meters high. It is said that in order to boost morale, the soldiers each piled up handfuls of soil with their hands.

Seeing that they were getting closer and closer to Shangdu, the soldiers who had repaired their troops put all the ominous signs and difficulties behind them and continued to march eastward with full energy.

At dawn on February 28, 1046 BC, the coalition forces arrived at Makino, 70 miles away from Chaoge (today's Qixian County, Henan Province), which is near today's Xinxiang City, Henan Province.

However, at this moment, the formation of the merchant army that came to intercept from afar gradually showed its outline. The size of its team made the soldiers take a breath of cold air. According to today's historical research scholars, the Shang King's army at that time numbered as many as 170,000.

There was a huge disparity in military strength between the two sides. In that era of manpower warfare, there seemed to be no suspense about victory or defeat.

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In the war against Dongyi, the powerful Shang King had the advantage. The Shang army rushed and surrounded them layer by layer, just like the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves. They surrendered most of the Dongyi tribes, captured thousands of Dongyi people, and achieved a great victory.

When the army of King Wu of Zhou gradually approached, Emperor Xin of Shang Dynasty was in the palace, celebrating the victory of Dongyi's suppression of the rebellion with Daji.

It was not until the news that the tribes in the west jointly attacked Chaoge City reached the ears of King Shang that he suddenly woke up and became panicked. However, the counter-rebellion army was far away at the border and it was too late to move back. How did he gather a large number of troops in a hurry and rush to the battlefield to fight?

"He temporarily gathered people from slaves and prisoners. It is hard to say whether he even has weapons or not, but there are quite a few people."

However, King Wu of Zhou did not know about all this.

Facing the mighty merchant army that was several times larger than his own, King Wu secretly sighed in his heart that this battle was going to be a disaster, as if it fulfilled the bad omens in the divination before dispatching the troops and all the ominous signs on the way forward. Is really the will of God? Shouldn't we send troops to attack businessmen?

No one knows whether King Wu regretted it, but retreat was impossible at this time, and King Wu could only move forward bravely.

On the Alliance Mountain in Huojia County, King Wu made the final pre-war oath to the alliance princes and Zhou clan soldiers. This pre-war oath is called the "Herding Oath".

"King Wu of Zhou first said, you have come all the way to fight and fight for the people. It's hard work, but why should we fight against King Zhou ? King Wu of Zhou listed a series of crimes against King Zhou, such as He said that beauty is a disaster, and he gave a lot of examples to the villain and the virtuous minister. Then he told the soldiers that we are going to fight a war. In this war, we must protect ourselves, that is, do not use too much force when assassinating, and protect ourselves first. ourselves, and then assassinate others. After several charges, we will stop and rest for a while. The people behind will charge. Don't kill those who surrender, let them be our slaves."

Young King Wu of Zhou said generously in front of the battle. The oath strengthened the Allied forces' determination to attack. At the same time, the oath also contained his tactics: to preserve his own strength, keep the formation in order, and not to kill prisoners.

But King Wu of Zhou and the soldiers at that time did not know that this oath actually played a very critical role in the entire war.

The decisive battle started in a drizzle. The 83-year-old Jiang Shang, as the commander-in-chief of the allied forces of King Wu of Zhou, led his chariots to charge into the enemy formation, full of pride and energy.The heroic spirit of such an old man taking the lead not only boosted the morale of the Zhou army, but was also enough to scare the enemy.

During the Shang and Zhou periods, the conventional weapons of war were mainly spears, guns, and bows and arrows. Interestingly, the record about Jiang Shang's hundred-man army in "Historical Records" mentions the use of four-horse chariots in war for the first time. Although the tanks of the Makino period were not as advanced as the of the and Warring States periods, they also played a very key role in this battle.

Although the combat effectiveness of the hastily assembled troops of King Shang was not as good as that of the well-trained troops of King Wu of Zhou, the battle between an elite division and a large force was bound to be a fierce battle.

However, when the war really started, something unexpected happened in the vast Makino battlefield: a large number of slave prisoners in the Shang King's army turned against them and began to attack their own people, and some members of the Shang royal family and ministers also rebelled on the battlefield. , opened the city gate and led the Zhou army into the city.

"These slaves and prisoners were tortured and humiliated by the king of Shang, and they had nowhere to vent their resentment. They had always heard that the tribes of Zhou were honest and righteous. So on the battlefield, they rebelled. This is where the idiom "ex-disciple defection" comes from. , which means that the troops in the front surrender to the enemy and in turn attack their own people. "

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The battle started from early morning until night. In less than a day, the outcome was decided. King Zhou Wu with 50,000 troops defeated King Shang with 170,000 troops and won the victory. A war that brought down a dynasty ended in such a short period of time.

watched everything disappear in an instant, and no one knew what King Shang was thinking in his heart at this time. Perhaps it was because he had no face to face his ancestors, or perhaps he regretted being deceived by Daji and being willful in his later years.

He silently boarded the Lutai he built for Daji and walked into the blazing fire.

And Daji was sitting in front of her dressing table, showing her last smile. Whether what she did was for the sake of the Su tribe or whether it was her nature has become an eternal mystery.

The more than six hundred years of rule of the Shang Dynasty finally came to an end in their hands.

A few months later, Ji Fa ascended the throne of the king of the world and was called King Wu of Zhou. The third and last slavery dynasty in the history of our country - Zhou Dynasty , its glory of nearly 800 years and the ritual and music civilization that has influenced China for thousands of years also started.

In order to reward the soldiers who participated in the war, King Wu of Zhou sealed the territories and made the soldiers who died in the battle as gods, whose names will be passed down through the ages. The executor of the canonization of gods is Jiang Shang.

" After the Makino War , in order to comfort the souls of the dead, they were made gods and allowed to manage a land, a river, and a mountain. Each river has a river god. , Every mountain has a mountain god, every county has a city god, and every town has a land god. "

To this day, when many people build a new house, they still write "Here is Jiang Taigong, the gods abdicate." .

The once heroic and arrogant Shang King left only a solitary grave outside Qi County, Henan today. Later generations used the word "Zhou" to comment on his cruelty and called him King Zhou of Shang . And Daji was demonized by later generations as a vixen, , and became a typical representative of harm to the country and the people.

A war, the replacement of two dynasties, the restructuring of the world in the war, and the advancement of history in the war.

The Battle of Makino ended the darkness for the people and opened up a new life. The miraculous battle process will be recorded in the annals of history forever.

This article has been selected as the documentary creation content of iQiyi exclusive column "General History of the Chinese War".

[This article is authorized to be reprinted on the Zizhong Shuo Modern History official account, please do not reprint without permission]